“We wanted to be the guys” - Jayson Tatum speaks on why the 2019 Boston Celtics team could not win the NBA title, says ‘you can’t help but think that could’ve been us’
Jayson Tatum will be featuring in the 71st NBA All-Star Game tomorrow, attaining his third consecutive selection. He will be in the starting lineup for Team Durant alongside Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Andre Wiggins and Trae Young.
Tatum is having an amazing season, leading the Boston Celtics in several categories: points, field points, three-pointers, two-pointers and free throws. His current season-high came against the Washington Wizards in a' 29-point blowout win. He was explosive with a 51-point double-double, recording 10 rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes of gameplay.
Jayson Tatum was invited to an exclusive interview on the The Old Man and The Three podcast with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter. He was questioned on why he thought the 2019 Celtics team didn't work as they crashed out in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks.
"It was a combination of Kyrie and Gordon coming back. Obviously, we know what Kai is capable of but you know, Gordon was coming off of All-Star the year before, was and still is very very good player. Then you have myself, JB and Terry, that naturally we wanted more. You know, we were young and we knew what we just accomplished and how close we got
Tatum then went on to state that a lot of the Celtics' budding young talent (such as himself, Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown) struggled to buy-in to the team-first approach. Instead, many players seemed almost resistant to the idea early on in their careers.
"We wanted more, we wanted to be the guys and everybody I think was little resistant instead of like, we're all playing for the same goal. We're all gonna be paid, we're all gonna be All-Star or whatever and I think life would just be better if we all win a championship. And I think everybody played a part in that, I know I did for sure."
Tatum also revealed that he wanted to take on the responsibility of being the second-best player in the Celtics' ranks behind Kyrie Irving.
"As bad as I wanted to win, we all knew Kai was the best player. I wanted to be the number two and I take responsibility for some of those things. But just looking back on it especially the Warriors not even being full strength in the championship like you can't help but think like that could've been us."
Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics' 2019 playoff run
The Boston Celtics finished fourth in the NBA Eastern Conference with a 49-33 record in the 2018-19 NBA season. Only behind the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers with Kyrie Irving leading the pack and Jayson Tatum being the third-best.
Jaylen Brown averaged 18 PPG in the postseason back in 2018 (20 PPG in the ECF). He averaged 14 PPG in the 2019 playoffs playing next to Kyrie Irving. In 2020, his playoffs scoring average jumped up to 22 PPG. Jayson Tatum went from 19 PPG down to 15 PPG up to 26 PPG in 2020.
Their first-round encounter with the Indiana Pacers ended in a clean sweep victory as the young Celtics team seemed ambitious and were ready to demolish any team, depriving them of achieving their set goals. Their conference semifinal clash against the Milwaukee Bucks went sideways though as they suffered the same fate after winning their first outing.
The promising Celtics side crashed out in a huge blow dealt by the Bucks, who went on to lose the Conference finals to the Toronto Raptors that year. The Raptors claimed the title after defeating Steve Kerr and his Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals.